New govt will call joint sittings of Houses to push through key bills

BJP has decided to take frequent recourse to joint sittings of Parliament to make sure that key legislations are not held up due to the NDA’s inadequate numbers in RS.

TNN | May 19, 2014, 01.57 AM IST

The BJP has decided to take frequent recourse to joint sittings of Parliament to make sure that key legi... Read More

NEW DELHI: The BJP has decided to take frequent recourse to joint sittings of Parliament to make sure that key legislations are not held up due to the NDA's inadequate numbers in Rajya Sabha.

Despite the BJP having a majority on its own in Lok Sabha with 282 members, and the NDA garnering 336 seats in all, the ruling alliance is short of majority in Rajya Sabha with just 64 votes. Even if all 10 nominated members, who are expected to go with the government, are counted, the NDA tally just improves to 74 seats, as against the halfway mark of 123 MPs in the 245-member House. Besides, with BJP's Rajiv Pratap Rudy, LJP's Ram Vilas Paswan and rebel RJD MP Ram Kripal Yadav now elected to Lok Sabha, there will be three vacancies in the upper House that the NDA may seek to fill.

Even though regional parties like AIADMK and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) have indicated that they may not reflexively come in the way of key legislations, the BJP has already made up its mind that the new government would not hesitate to convene a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament with a view to ensure smooth passage of legislations it may wish to craft.

As per Article 108 of the Constitution, a joint sitting of both Houses can be called if a bill has been passed by one House and rejected by the other; if the two Houses have finally disagreed on the amendments to be made in the bill; or if more than six months have elapsed after a bill is passed by one House but is not passed by the other.

Constitutional expert Subhash C Kashyap told TOI that there have been only three joint sittings of both Houses so far, leading to passage of the Dowry Prohibition Bill, 1961, the Banking Service Commission Repeal Bill, 1978, and Prevention of Terrorism Bill, 2002.

Kashyap said there was no time or frequency bar on calling a joint sitting, which was entirely a prerogative of the ruling dispensation at the Centre.

A joint sitting of both Houses is presided over by the Lok Sabha Speaker and only a simple majority is need to get a bill passed, which is then immediately sent to the President for his assent.

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